Does intelligence make one a better leader? Research might show that more intelligent leaders are faster learners, make better deductions, and are better at developing strategies to make their vision a reality. (PSU WC, 2016, L. 2) However, the link between the g factor and leadership is not as strong as one would think. One considers that the relation of the g factor to general job performance is .51 (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998)
Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) identified 6 traits that differentiate leaders and non-leaders: drive, desire to lead honesty and integrity self-confidence, cognitive ability, knowledge of the business. (PSU WC, 2016, L. 2) While it is important to have a these traits, there is no one list that are important to leaders. (PSU WC, 2016, L. 2) However, Daniel Goleman (1995) said that success in life is based on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, which encompass emotional intelligence. (PSU WC, 2016, L. 2) Emotional intelligence also is a trait that makes a great leader because it is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those people around you. If we didn’t have emotional intelligence, once may not be as successful as one with just a high IQ. In the following three examples of CEO’s and their actions are indication that emotional intelligence plays a big role with leadership in the work place.
Take for example the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. Amazon’s centers had been criticized for difficult working conditions in the past. Bezos responded by saying that these stories of “callous management practices” don’t “describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day. Bezos was emotionally mature and had an intelligent response. What he said encouraged empathy, communication, self-confidence, and more. (Morey, Raelene, 2018)
My second example is with Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of GE. In his mid-twenties, Welch was the manufacturing head of a pilot plant producing a new plastic. After only working a short time at GE after earning his Ph.D., he was sitting in his office across from the plant when he heard a huge explosion. When he looked out his window he saw all the smoke, the roof destroyed and shattered glass everywhere. Incredibly, no one was hurt. His boss at the time called him to New York to an executive, a chemical engineer and former MIT, to explain what had happened. The executive asked calmly what had happened and if he knew how to fix it. Welch stated that “He took the Socratic Method with me and did an incredible job of engaging me in learning about what I did wrong in the process. And I learned never kick anybody when they’re down. No one would ever say that I was soft by any means. But they would never say that I beat on anybody when they were down.” Welch explained that he was self-confident and took his executive boss to be a mentor later becoming CEO of GE.
My third example is with Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. One embarrassing fail was the launch of a Twitter bot named Tay that was designed to advance artificial intelligence communication. The public experiment went horribly wrong when people started taking advantage of the bot and Tay started tweeting racist and profane comments, prompting Microsoft to shut the project down and later apologize. The engineers who worked on Tay must have felt ashamed by the whole experience. So you imagine their surprise when Nadella sent them an email, which included the following: “Keep pushing, and know that I am with you… The key is to keep learning and improving.” From Nadella’s response, we can see social skills play a big role in leaders. Also, one who is more sensitive to their emotions and the impact of their emotions on others will be leaders who are more effective. (Northouse, 2016, p. 28)
In contrast, there are also leaders who are unsuccessful. A self-professed “impulsive” leader, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has drawn criticism and rage from staff, investors, and the public. In a year when the electric car manufacturer Tesla has come under scrutiny for its factory conditions, treatment of employees, and nearing bankruptcy to meet production demands, Musk has responded by calling investors names and tweeting snappish retorts. Another side is being sued by former employees. We can see this CEO’s trait resulting in the dark-side personality. Leaders with these dark-side personality traits have followers that exert less effort toward goal accomplishment (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2002).
In conclusion, from comparing these executive leaders we can see that emotional intelligence characterizes the successful leaders whereas the dark-side would characterize the unsuccessful leaders considering the situations. What sets the executives with EI apart is a level of controlled self-awareness that helps them develop as leaders faster than the average CEO that might have Impulsivity.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1985970/modules/items/26589436
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1985970/modules/items/26589433
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1985970/modules/items/26589432
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1985970/modules/items/26589431
Morey, Raelene (2018). How 5 Emotionally Intelligent CEOS Handle Their Power. Retrieved from https://pagely.com/blog/emotionally-intelligent-ceos/
Heiskanen, Ville (2019) Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-26/musk-s-tweets-land-him-in-trouble-with-sec-again-a-timeline
Shawna Lee Pires says
I agree with your understanding of emotional intelligence and how important it is in a leader. I work in an occupation in which there are a lot of really smart people who are good at what they do as analysts however I often wonder how they get from their house to work every day. Lesson 2 discusses the theories of multiple intelligence, called the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence and this involves three types of intelligence: analytic, practical, and creative (PSU WC, 2019, L.2). I think this theory applies to those I have encountered and some of the leaders of the organizations that you listed above, specifically Elon Musk.
A specific example that I have encountered recently is the senior enlisted advisor who is an incredibly smart individual who had a great depth of analytic intelligence, or in general problem-solving, however he is the senior enlisted of a command and greatly lacks the practical intelligence “street smarts” that allows him to adapt to certain situations (PSU WC, 2019, L.2) His inability to understand his surroundings, more so when he is talking to civilian employees has led to many complaints directed towards him. I could see this applying to Elon Musk as well. Clearly a very smart individual and extremely creative, however lacked the practical intelligence to handle himself in board rooms and do what was necessary for the betterment of the company. Having large outbursts and the inability to control your own emotions counteracts any sort of analytical intelligence a supervisor has.
Another aspect I found interesting was the example you provided with Microsoft and the artificial intelligence communication that was developed for the Twitter application. The engineers clearly had not intended for the application to be hacked as it was and it was impactful that the CEO personally reaching out to the engineers with words of encouragement shows that human level of emotion and understanding how the engineers might feel. This topic was particularly interesting to me in that I immediately went artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence and how these two things could never be, as computers do not have emotion. I think technology while mostly for the better, has also hindered supervisors understanding of emotional intelligence and many lack that human connection and interaction as we rely more and more on email or chats or texts.
I’ve seen numerous times where an email was sent and taken out of context because the receiver read it in one tone and the supervisor sent it intending it to be in a different tone. I think as supervisors it is important to have that face to face contact with followers as much as possible in order to maintain those social skills and empathy that are attributed to emotional intelligence (PSU WC, 2019, L.2).
Emotional intelligence is a fundamental trait that should be exhibited by leaders. Those leaders that lack the ability to show a human aspect of themselves end up lacking a significant characteristic that makes them a good leader. They might demonstrate the analytical intelligence, but if they cannot communicate, this will likely lead to the degradation in motivation of the employees which could affect the overall output and start a chain reaction, as a business cannot be successful without its employees.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2019). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. PSYCH485: Leadership in Work Settings. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1985970/modules/items/26589427